SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 3, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ADANA 000073 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 3, 2006 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for April 03, ¶2006. Please note that Turkish press reports often contain errors or exaggerations; AmConsulate Adana does not vouch for the accuracy of the reports summarized here. POLITICAL, SECURITY, HUMAN RIGHTS RADIKAL / HURRIYET / SABAH: Death toll increased to 12 with the incident that broke out in Mardin's Kiziltepe district on Saturday (04/01). Nearly 1000 people clashed with police. A group of people broke into a Kiziltepe public tax Office and AKP provincial party and set fire on the buildings. Police rescued four bank officers trapped in the building. Jandarma units from 4th Border Division Command entered the district. Ahmet Arac, wounded by a shot, died while being taken to hospital. 16 people, including seven police officers, have been wounded. 30 people have been detained. Hakkari's Yuksekova district: Police asked tradesmen to open their businesses that stayed closed throughout the day. Tension developed when police tried to disperse a crowd of people who attempted to hold a demonstration on Saturday. 10 people have been detained. Soldiers arrived at the district, made a show of presence as they marched in the streets and shouted, ''All for the country!'' Unspecified sources opened fire at the security forces. One bullet hit a police armored vehicle. Sirnak's Slopi district: Police intervened, used teargas and opened fire in the air when a group of people attempted to lay a black wreath at AKP's provincial building. Tradesmen closed their businesses at the end of the scuffle that lasted one hour. Diyarbakir's Silvan district: 25-year-old Mustafa Eryilmaz, who died during the demonstrations in Diyarbakir, has been buried in a village of Silvan. A group which atempted to hold a demonstration was dispersed by the soldiers. Tradesmen kept their businesses closed throughout the day. Van: Upon receiving tip-offs that DTP members would hold a press announcement and some groups would carry out demonstrations, police intensified security measures in Van. A 100-vehicle military convoy, including tanks and armored military vehicles, passed along the central main street of the province. Adana: A group, which was mainly comprised of children, chanted pro-PKK slogans and burned tires in the Daglioglu quarter of Adana. Security forces dispersed the crowd. Malatya: A percussion bomb, which was most probably placed in a hand grenade, went off in an area that is close to one of the offices of the security directorate in the town. Only windows of two businesses have been broken as a result of the blast. Diyarbakir and Batman: Situation normalized in Diyarbakir province. All of the tradesmen in Baglar and Melikahmet quarters, who kept their businesses closed during the incidents, opened their shops. Tradesmen in Batman, following a two-day escalation of tension in the city, started opening their businesses as of Saturday afternoon. Batman Mayor Huseyin Kalkan said that windows of 500 businesses got smashed and the cost of the damage to the city was 20 million Turkish liras (approximately 15 million USD). Diyarbakir mayor Efkan Ala also announced that damage assessment studies have been completed for Diyarbakir; however, he would not announce the figures immediately. (This summary is from 04/02 edition.) RADIKAL / HURRIYET / SABAH : Mehdi Eker, Minister of Agriculture and Village Works, who paid a visit to Diyarbakir with Minister of Interior on Friday (03/31),said at an industrial area he visited in Diyarbakir that he heard from children that (unspecified) people gave each child five Turkish liras (approx. 0.7 cents) to throw Molotov cocktails and stones (at security officers and public offices). Eker said that it was the first time it happened in Diyarbakir that people were forced to close their businesses. Eker further stated that some circles expected those incidents to cause deaths, especially of children. Eker blamed demonstrators for targeting health centers, attempting to burn them, and hurling stones at the ambulances. Eker also announced that costs of damage to businesses of people would be indemnified under law on damages and losses incurred during counter-terrorism activities. (This summary is from 04/02 edition.) OZGUR GUNDEM: An April 3-dated article on Ozgur Gundem's online newspaper noted that jails in Diyarbakir have been overpopulated because of the detentions and arrests that took place in the province. Diyarbakir Bar Association authorities reported that arrestees were transferred to Mardin Jail, but Mardin Jail has been filled up to its maximum capacity, as well. This time, security officers reportedly started transferring the arrestees to Nusaybin district. People detained have been arraigned in groups at the Diyarbakir Court. Meanwhile, police has reportedly been conducting unannounced raids at houses, coffee houses, cafes and homes of the students and has been detaining people during these raids. OZGUR GUNDEM: 2 persons have been killed on Saturday during the ADANA 00000073 002 OF 003 incidents that erupted in Mardin's Kiziltepe district. Special team forces and anti-riot teams have blockaded the entrance to the Kiziltepe State Hospital as the incidents escalated in the district. Non-governmental organizations who attempted to see the Subgovernor and the Prosecutor have been prevented by the soldiers allegedly on security grounds. Demonstrators that died have been buried under intense security measures of the military personnel. People other than the relatives have not been allowed to the burial site. RADIKAL / HURRIYET: The U.S. warned its citizens, who might travel to Turkey, about the security concerns that has developed in the southeastern part of the country. (This summary is from 04/02 edition.) RADIKAL: Martin Scheinin, UN Human Rights Representative, who paid visits to places in the eastern and southeastern Turkey last month, generated a report concerning his observations in his visits. Scheinin's report pointed out that there was serious socioeconomic differences and inequalities between eastern-southeastern Turkey and the rest of the country. Pointing out that interregional equality was a key element in achieving social peace, Scheinin further advised Turkish government to focus its attention to eastern and southeastern parts and normalize the situation there. The report further advised Turkey to make a clear definition of acts that would be regarded as terrorist activities. RADIKAL: Foreign minister Gul said that police, jandarma, or if need be, soldiers will take up the task of countering terrorism during Turkey's struggle against terrorist activities. It was definitely not the case that government was showing tolerance to or taking a vulnerable stance against terrorism. Gul further announced that six of the 14 terrorists killed at border of Mus and Bingol provinces on March 24 were foreign nationals. Three of the terrorists were Syrians, two of them were Iranians, and one of them was an Iraqi. According to Gul, government might consider state of emergency rule if need be, but they were reportedly advocating use of democratic means in the first place. SABAH / HURRIYET: Ayhan Karabulut, DTP Batman provincial chairperson, has reportedly been detained. Hurriyet daily notes that Karabulut made a call to people on Roj TV to participate in a march during the incidents. Hurriyet daily also notes that DTP Van Deputy Provincial Chairperson, DTP Van Central District Chairperson, and two senior officials of the provincial party organization have been detained, arraigned and then released to stand trial later. Based on Prosecutor's appeal of the court's decision to a higher court, Karabulut has been rearrested. SABAH / HURRIYET: Sabah daily noted that Denmark has rejected Turkey's demands to black out Roj TV's broadcasts in Denmark on grounds that it would not be possible to intervene in the ongoing judicial process about Roj TV. However, Hurriyet daily cites Abdullah Gul as saying that it seemed Denmark would do whatever is required to do. HURRIYET: BBC broadcasting company used the term 'regional capital' as it referred to Diyarbakir during its reporting about the latest incidents that developed in the region. An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reportedly said that, since the British broadcasting company did not use the word 'Kurdistan', the company would claim that that statement was serving to no political ends. HURRIYET ONLINE: Nearly 200 PKK demonstrators attempted to hold an unauthorized demonstration in the Taksim square of Istanbul. When police intervened and chased the mob to Dolapdere quarter of the city, a 20-person masked group of people among the demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails at the police. A truck was burned because of the fire from a Molotov cocktail. The group dispersed at the end of a 15-minute scuffle. HURRIYET ONLINE: A municipality bus was attacked yesterday night by PKK supporters holding illegal protests in Istanbul. Three women were killed and two others were injured when the demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails at the bus. HURRIYET ONLINE: The daily reported that a total of 498 people in connection with past week's turbulences in Diyarbakir have been referred to judicial authorities. 189 of them are children. 339 people, 90 of whom were children, have been detained. 159 people have been released. In Batman, 33 of 41 people detained have been arrested. The daily further reported that a total of 566 people have been detained to date in the region. Two commissions have been formed by the Governor's Office to conduct damage assessment studies. The commissions have examined 320 business spots to date and have been continuing their efforts to ADANA 00000073 003 OF 003 assess further damages. HURRIYET ONLINE / OZGUR GUNDEM: Diyarbakir Governor announced that the number of death toll increased to 12 in the southeastern Turkey. Two people, Halit Sogut (78) and Emre Fidan have recently died at Diyarbakir State Hospital while they were under treatment. The funerals of these people have been held under precautions that prevented spark of further incidents. The number of people that died in Diyarbakir reached to 9, and the number of people that died in overall region reached to 12: Reportedly, two deaths occurred in Mardin's Kiziltepe district, one death took place in Batman. Ozgur Gundem noted that Halit Sogut died as he was under treatment at the Brain Surgery Department of the Dicle University's Research Hospital because of the heavy wounds incurred in the head during the incidents. WWW.MEMLEKETHABER.COM: Mardin Governor's Office reported that two terrorists have been caught in Mardin's Midyat district with 1.5 kilograms of A4 explosives on March 31 as they were preparing to carry out a reported terrorist activity. Along with the explosives, two cell phones and one fuse were also seized on the terrorists who caught, arraigned and then arrested. RADIKAL: Ahmet Turk, DTP Co-Chairperson, stated that he feared the ongoing violence might turn into ethnical clashes between people. According to Turk, PM Erdogan, instead of saying that he was sorry for the death of small children during the incidents, made remarks blaming the families as leaving their children to streets unattended. Turk reportedly did not approve (government's) taking up of arms to solve the issues. Meanwhile, Turk reportedly said that MHP Leader Devlet Bahceli's stance regarding the incidents was better than CHP leader Deniz Baykal's. HURRIYET ONLINE: Ahmet Turk, DTP Co-Chairperson made an interview with the CNN Turk TV station and said that the party organization has referred Murat Avci, DTP Siirt Provincial Chairperson, who gave instructions to Siirt people during the funeral of PKK terrorist Kenan Demir that people should not open their businesses or attend schools throughout that day (see press summary 03/30),to party disciplinary committee. Ahmet Turk said that such instructions given by the provincial chairperson were not appropriate. HURRIYET ONLINE: Agri: A clash took place between a 1000-person group (the group called themselves Democratic People's Initiative) and police officers in the Agri province. The group made a press announcement 100 meters away from the AKP provincial building in Agri. Demonstrators held a sit-in protest. Then, as the group started walking past the AKP provincial building, some people started hurling stones. Police intervened and used pepper gas to disperse the crowd. After staging a further march towards another main street and holding various quarrels with the police, the group dispersed. Mus: DTP members and members of Association of Solidarity for Inmates Families held a 5-minute sit-in protest in Mus province. Reportedly, people of Mus did not pay much interest and did not take part in this activity. Reportedly, only 35 DTP members attended it. A group chanted slogans in support for Abdullah Ocalan during the protest activity. DTP members made a press announcement and chanted Kurdish slogans saying, "Long live Apo (Abdullah Ocalan)" and "Leader Apo." Sanliurfa's Viransehir district: A 500-person group held a protest activity that started early in the morning today against last week's incidents that broke out in the Diyarbakir province. People chanted slogans in support of Abdullah Ocalan and carried flags that represented the terrorist organization (PKK.) As Viransehir Mayor Emrullah Cin was attempting to appease the angry crowd, the village guards reportedly opened fire in the air. A bullet accidentally shot a police officer in his leg. Emrullah Cin tried to protect himself from the fire by running into a shop. Groups of people, who gathered in the side streets after they were dispersed by security officers, attempted to hold further protest activities. People threw stones and Molotov cocktails at the police. Police used water cannons and pepper gas against the demonstrators. Some of the windows of the businesses got smashed. Tradesmen reportedly reacted angrily at the demonstrators and cursed at them. One of the demonstrators has been detained. Mayor Emrullah Cin claimed that the incidents were sparked by certain circles that aimed at benefiting from such turmoils. Cin repeated his allegation that village guards opened fire at the crowd. Security officers took the incidents under control and Jandarma reinforcements and armored vehicles have been deployed around the public offices and critical points at the district. REID